Does Achievement First pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Achievement First employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Achievement First. This rating has decreased by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Achievement First?

35% of Achievement First employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Achievement First 2.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.1 for culture and values and 3.0 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Achievement First?

Teacher (267) , Lead Teacher (34) , Academic Dean (20) , Teacher In Residence (20) , English Teacher (18) , Student Services Manager (17) , Math Teacher (14) , Dean (13) , Dean of Students (13) , Middle School Math Teacher (12) , Special Education Teacher (12) , Middle School Teacher (9) , Director (8) , Office Coordinator (8) , Associate Director (6)

What are the pros of working at Achievement First according to real employee reviews?

"Pay is good and beneficial" ((in 72 reviews)); "You meet some really great people at this organization and form relationships for the rest of your life." ((in 47 reviews)); "Competitive salary depending on number of years and education Day to day truly depends on the specific school" ((in 43 reviews)); "Good Professional Development" ((in 36 reviews)); "Great coaching during live teaching and documented summary provided." ((in 27 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Achievement First according to real employee reviews?

"No work life balance and a high" ((in 106 reviews)); "Long hours and overly tolerant of negative student behaviors." ((in 74 reviews)); "Misalignment from network level down to teachers and incompetent leadership at some schools/staff shortages" ((in 34 reviews)); "Long hours (9 hours a day required for teachers)" ((in 22 reviews)); "Poor management." ((in 13 reviews))

What are employees saying about Achievement First layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Achievement First layoffs and their outlook for job security at Achievement First in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Achievement First locations?

Brooklyn , New York , New Haven , Providence , Hartford , Bridgeport , Bushwick , Crown Heights , Cranston , East New York , North Providence , Binghamton , Queensbury , Stanfordville , Tempe , Hamden , New Orleans , Warwick , Miami , Boston , Savannah , Grand Chute , Brooklyn , Brownsville

Achievement First reviews

3.0

35% would recommend to a friend

(999 total reviews)

Fatimah Barker

39% approve of CEO

21% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (999 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Achievement First has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 999 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Achievement First employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

999 reviews

4.0

Apr 3, 2017

Teacher in residence

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Healthcare is cheap, ethnic diversity

Cons

Long hours, shorter summer,

2.0

Mar 30, 2017

Not great, Bob!

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Plentiful supplies (copy paper, markers) and decent technology (doc cams, Chrome books). - Network support writes comprehensive unit plans for most subjects. - If you have little to no experience in education and/or low-income communities, you'll probably be pretty happy here.

Cons

- It's like working for Dolores Umbridge, minus the intentional physical scars. - As you can tell from the lengthy rebuttals to reviews by the Chief Talent Officer here: Those who disagree ought not to be believed. - Lack of adequate differentiation and special education services is widely seen as a minor inconvenience, rather than morally repugnant, completely contrary to the stated mission, and - oh, right - illegal. - The ambivalence about differentiation extends to professional development as well. School-wide PD spent hours on first-year classroom management skills, which should have been taught in coaching sessions. Requests for more rigorous PD were rebuffed. - Admin had a superficial understanding of "high expectations" and "rigor." It translated to rigid behavioral expectations and teaching out-of-reach content. (I was directed to have my entire class *independently* read a level X book when the average reading level was an R/S and only 2 students were at X or above.) - Due to these rigid, school-wide, mandated behavior systems, it was not that uncommon to see 10% of the students (or more!) removed from class and it was not unusual for those removals to last more than an hour. - A surprising proportion of men in administration compared to the proportion of men in teaching roles.

Achievement First Response

9y

Dearest reviewer – I’m glad to see that your sense of humor is intact, though I’ll admit I had to google both the Harry Potter and Mad Men reference (full disclosure: I spent ten years in AF middle school and never read a Harry Potter). We do absolutely embrace a school-wide / all-team approach to school culture. It sounds like there were many students removed from your class, which I agree is troubling (and I’m sure not unique across AF), but I do want people to know that we watch removal rates carefully across the network because there’s little that’s more important than keeping kids in class and the average across AF is nowhere near that high. In most of our schools, less than 3% of students are removed from class per day – and even that is a number we consider high and that we’re actively working on. It’s extremely sad to read that your perspective is that special education services are seen as a “minor inconvenience” at AF. I cannot speak for your school and don’t know which one you work at – though I can verify that we’ve had at least 2 schools this year where serious concerns about current special education support have been raised and they are taken seriously. The commitment to special education runs deep here. We have directors of special education that support every region, and in NY next year we are starting an entire new academy for the kids that we’re having the hardest time reaching - AF Bushwick Empower Program. Empower will be a very small, specialized program within one of our existing schools where students will receive tailored academic support in small groups. With very small class sizes and qualified special education teachers, we’re confident that Empower will give our students with disabilities the instruction they need to reach their fullest potential. I would greatly appreciate it if you could reach out to me to share more about your experience, in part to know whether your school is one that we’re already focused on. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org

4.0

Mar 30, 2017

Literature Teacher

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

There is such a strong adult culture among the staff which is hard to come by in schools- everyone truly supports each other. Every adult in the building truly loves children and teaching. I learned really great behavior management skills from staff there. The kids are amazing. The pay and benefits are great.

Cons

I feel there should be more balance between behavior and academics- sometimes I didn't feel like I was truly teaching my content. Though I understand the need for silent hallways since the building is shared with a middle school, I did not like enforcing silent lunches (this policy might have changed since I've been there).

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